


i'll be the moon

by shadow_prince



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: 6th year, Boys In Denial, Boys In Love, Canon, It's very very requited, Jealousy, M/M, Open Ending, Pre-Relationship, Song fic, They're just both idiots, except not really, unrequited pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2020-10-01 20:57:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20402998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadow_prince/pseuds/shadow_prince
Summary: When Percy starts dating Penelope Clearwater at the end of 5th year, he doesn’t tell anyone, but of course Oliver notices the changes to his habits and schedules. Percy probably thinks he’s very sneaky about it, and perhaps to anyone who doesn’t pay very close attention or know Percy as well as Oliver does, he is. When Oliver confronts him about it, Percy blushes and looks away, mumbling something about not wanting the twins to find out and tease him, or worse, Penelope.“That doesn’t explain why you didn’t tellme,” Oliver says, hurt.Percy shrugs, still not looking at him. “I didn’t think it mattered.”





	i'll be the moon

**Author's Note:**

> Lyrics are from I'll Be The Moon by Dierks Bently & Maren Morris

_ I don't wanna be a liar _  
_ I don't wanna be a fool _  
_ I don't wanna be a secret but I will if you want me to _  
_ You can leave me in the dark if that's all I get from you _  
_ She can be the sun _  
_ I'll be the moon _ _  
Yeah, she can be the sun, I'll be the moon_

When Percy starts dating Penelope Clearwater at the end of 5th year, he doesn’t tell anyone, but of course Oliver notices the changes to his habits and schedules. Percy probably thinks he’s very sneaky about it, and perhaps to anyone who doesn’t pay very close attention or know Percy as well as Oliver does, he is. When Oliver confronts him about it, Percy blushes and looks away, mumbling something about not wanting the twins to find out and tease him, or worse, Penelope.

“That doesn’t explain why you didn’t tell _ me, _” Oliver says, hurt.

Percy shrugs, still not looking at him. “I didn’t think it mattered.”

“You didn’t think it mattered,” he repeats flatly. “You start dating someone, and you don’t think it matters to tell your best friend?”

Percy clenches his jaw. 

“Right.” A stone sinks in Oliver’s stomach, but he ignores it as he turns on his heel and stomps away. 

After that, Percy avoids him, and Oliver sees nothing to apologise for, so he dedicates all his time to Quidditch. Of course it’s impossible to avoid one another entirely, they share a bedroom afterall, but where they used to spend all their time together and sit together in class, by unspoken agreement, both find different desks and people to study with.

Over the summer when Oliver receives a letter from the twins, stating that Charlie would be visiting the Burrow and to come over for a pick-up match, he toys with the letter in indecision. Unable to come up with a reason to say no without sounding ridiculous, he scribbles a quick note back that he’ll be there that weekend. He paces the floor of his bedroom in irritation after though; irritation at himself for caring that Percy didn’t tell him, irritation at Percy for making his once safe-haven summer home at the Burrow a source of anxiety, and just general irritation at the entire situation. 

Every previous year since he started at Hogwarts, his mother would joke that he was at the Burrow as much as he was at home, and sometimes he was there even _ more _than home. If she noticed that he had yet to go over there this summer, she doesn’t mention it. Maybe she attributes it to Charlie having graduated, maybe she senses the shift in his mood since he and Percy argued. He’s just grateful she doesn’t ask.

He steps out of the floo with all the grace of gazelle first walking on too long of limbs, waves to Molly before jogging to the backyard with his broom in hand. Percy glances up from the table where he’s writing a letter, but quickly looks back down so Oliver doesn’t say anything, but then the twins are on him and Charlie is clapping him on the shoulder and all thoughts of Percy are gone. He can’t believe he’s been avoiding here and for the first time in months things feel right again. Like he’s where he’s supposed to be. 

If there’s a small niggling that Percy isn’t there watching over the edge of a book while feigning disinterest, well, he pushes that thought away as he kicks off the ground into the fresh English summer air.

After that, he doesn’t let the awkwardness with Percy stop him from going to the Burrow, and for once in their 15 years of existence the twins have enough tact not to ask why Oliver has taken to sleeping in their room instead of their brother’s when he spends the night. They pester Percy relentlessly on who he is sending letters to but Percy just tells them to bugger off and Oliver keeps his mouth shut.

As the summer wears on and Oliver becomes more fidgety and restless, he decides to devote his time to developing a training regimen for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. 6th year is normally an easy one, without the stress of either O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s, making it the perfect year for the team to take home the cup. Oliver plans to devote all of his attention to it, and the increase in practices means even less time he has to be in Gryffindor tower, or more specifically, his dormitory.

When he wakes at dawn for their first morning practice, Percy wakes as well. His hair is ruffled, not sporting its usual clean part and waxed hold and Oliver wonders how soft it must be without the product. They meet eyes and Percy opens his mouth, but seems to change his mind. Oliver looks away and busies himself with dressing. He hears Percy roll over in bed and doesn’t look back.

All year, Percy seems to have the same idea as Oliver, and he hates himself a little for noticing. He takes on extra Prefect rounds. He watches over all of his siblings, particularly Ginny as it’s her 1st year. He is constantly on edge and sporting dark circles under his eyes and is almost never there when Oliver retires for the night. Even though it’s been nearly a year since their fight, on the rare occasion that they are in the same room Oliver swears he can feel a crackling in the air, like lightening about to strike, or magic in the moments before it is unleashed. 

No matter how he tries to distract himself and forget about their friendship and everything he lost, Oliver can’t help the horrendous clench of his heart at the observations of Percy losing weight, Percy losing sleep, Percy uncharacteristically missing a class entirely because he lost track of time. On a whim, Oliver fills an extra plate at dinner, casting a warming charm and shrinking it to hide in his bag, leaving it out on Percy’s desk in the dormitory with no note.

When it’s gone the next morning he thinks, at least it’s something. At least he can do this.

A week later when he climbs the stairs, plate in hand, the spot on the desk is blocked by Percy, asleep, face down on the surface. For the briefest of moments, Oliver’s heart stops in his chest, gripped by fear that Percy has been petrified like the other students who lie motionless in the hospital wing. He crosses the room in three rushed strides, hand landing heavily on Percy’s shoulder who startles awake.

Blue eyes blink blearly at him. He removes his crooked glasses and sets them on the desk before making an attempt to rub the sleep away.

“Thank Merlin,” Oliver breathes, and Percy must understand.

He stands shakily from his chair and wraps his arms around Oliver’s waist, burying his face in Oliver’s neck. Oliver hugs him too tight around the shoulders, holds him too tight against him, but Percy doesn’t complain.

“Sorry,” he mumbles, words uncharacteristically lacking their precise enunciation. Oliver just holds him tighter, ignoring Percy’s grunt of discomfort. “Have you been leaving me food?” he asks, and Oliver hears it for what it is; an apology and thanks and forgiveness all in one. 

“Yes, since you’ve obviously forgotten how to take care of yourself.”

“Been a bit busy.”

“Running yourself ragged you mean?” He finally loosens his grip enough for Percy to pull back and scowl at him.

“Like you’ve been better?” he demands.

“I’m not trying to carry the weight of the entire school on my shoulders,” Oliver replies hotly, but even he can hear the way fondness is laced through every word.

The corner of Percy’s mouth crooks into a lopsided smile, the one reserved for in the confines of their dormitory, where Percy doesn’t have to worry about the weighted judgement of everyone around them. Where he doesn’t have to try and be better than Bill or Charlie, where he doesn’t have to be insecure about the twin’s popularity. Where he can just be Percy.

“Just the weight of the Quidditch team then?”

Percy accepts the plate that Oliver passes him, retaking the seat at his desk to eat, but angling his chair to keep talking to Oliver and it’s like the past year didn’t happen. The long days of avoiding one another and the even longer nights of laying awake behind closed curtains wondering if Percy ever thought of him or missed him, or if all of it could be pushed aside so easily in the face of one little squabble. 

Throwing his hands in the air in mock frustration, Oliver exclaims, “Well, who _ else _is going to carry them? Honestly though, my back is getting a bit sore.”

The startled laugh he elicits is surprising to both of them, his eyes are wide as he watches Percy laugh in ernest. 

Things return more or less to normal after that, or as normal as things can be in a magical castle with students getting petrified and other abnormalities that even magic can’t explain. Percy still runs himself ragged trying to protect everyone and Oliver still drives his team mad with extra practices as they draw closer to the Hufflepuff game, but in between… in between they are Oliver and Percy again. 

Instead of hiding in the library studying, Percy props himself up against the foot of Oliver’s bed like he used to, and throws a leg over Oliver’s knee with their transfiguration book and notes strew across the covers. Oliver brings food back for Percy when he’s busy on Prefect duty, and busies himself with shoving away the thoughts the creep in at the edges of every waking moment of wanting to memorise those freckles with more than just his eyes.

_ I don't wanna be a liar _  
_ I don't wanna be a fool _ _  
I don't wanna be a secret but this is something I can't lose_


End file.
